The United States and Micronesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday reaffirming their close ties, a pact considered crucial to the U.S. efforts to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific. The State Department said the MoU reflected a “shared understanding reached on levels and types of future U.S. assistance to be requested…

The United States and Micronesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Feb. 10 reaffirming their close ties, a pact considered crucial to the U.S. efforts to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific. The State Department noted that the MOU reflected a “shared understanding reached on levels and types of future U.S. assistance to…